Friday, 27 July 2012

Lunch- Spokane, Washington, USA

Hi VEG! My name is Laura, and I am 30 years old, 33 weeks pregnant, and I work at a private university in Spokane, WA., USA.

This is a picture of my lunch today:

I am having two open-faced ham and swiss cheese sandwiches on rice & corn cakes, a whole avocado with lime and salt, and 1/2 c. of fresh blueberries!

I am gluten intolerant (my body cannot tolerate gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and triticale), and I also have gestational diabetes! I manage my gestational diabetes through diet, so keeping my carbohydrate intake within certain limits is very crucial! Also, I cannot have sweets, as I am only allowed a certain number of carbohydrates a day, so I get the most out of them by eating fresh fruit and whole grains!

Also, you can't see it in my picture, but I have a big bottle of water for my drink.

Food-O-Meter: 10/10 I pack my own lunches, so I will only pack what I want to eat!
Mouthfuls: 30 give or take
Course: Main/side/dessert
Health Rating: 9/10
Price: Probably less than $2.50
Hair: 0 (YAY)
Carb count: about 30 g. of carbs total.
Baby kicks while eating: about 10 or so, plus a couple somersaults!

Hi Laura. Your lunch looks delicious! I was very pleased to read that you were from Spokane. I lived there for 20 years (with 5 years in Seattle in the middle) until I moved to the UK 9 years ago. I attended Whitworth University. Do you work for Whitworth or Gonzaga? I lived very near Whitworth. Thank you for sharing your lunch and good luck with your pregnancy.

Glad to hear you can manage the gestational diabetes with diet alone. I had to resort to rapid acting insulin shots every time I ate a meal. Not fun but you get used to it. But if you can avoid all those pokes, so much the better. Trust the rest of your pregnancy goes well. Thanks for the post.

Laura, like Renda I was also pleased to read you were from Spokane. My grandparents have lived in Spokane Valley since the mid-60s! My grandpa was actually the Dean of Engineering at Gonzaga University! I myself live in Redmond, Wa....unfortunately a five hour drive from my grandparents! I might have to try eating a sandwich on rice crackers. I too am gluten intolerant, but still eat a little too much gluten since I am the only one in my family. I am also intolerant to corn...sigh. Good luck on the remaining weeks of our pregnancy.

I don't know where the hell you get the "healthy points" because that lunch is not even close healthy. I'd have given 1 point, not more. First of all, cheese is very unhealthy and because lunch is the most important meal of the day two rice cakes + avocado is not enough. It's not good for the baby, either .. Should I post a picture of a healthy lunch or something??

Well that was just rude! First off, not many people in the US consider lunch to be the most importat meal. As a matter of fact I would feel comfortable in saying that for the majority of us, lunch is actually the lighest meal of the day. The majority would probably be split 50/50 between breakfast and dinner being the largest/most important.

Also, having dealt with gestational diabetes myself.. I guarantee that Laura follows the 5-6 small meals a day vs 3 larger ones. So any one "meal" she has during the day would probably look like it wasn't enough. As for cheese, well Calcium and Protein are very important while pregnant and it just so happens that cheese has plenty of both. (Although, some do say it is good to avoid soft cheeses while pregnant due to the possiblity of a higher content of bacteria).

Each person has their own opinion to what is and what is not heatly, but you sure could have been a little less rude in expressing your opinion.

Well that was just rude! First off, not many people in the US consider lunch to be the most importat meal. As a matter of fact I would feel comfortable in saying that for the majority of us, lunch is actually the lighest meal of the day. The majority would probably be split 50/50 between breakfast and dinner being the largest/most important.

Also, having dealt with gestational diabetes myself.. I guarantee that Laura follows the 5-6 small meals a day vs 3 larger ones. So any one "meal" she has during the day would probably look like it wasn't enough. As for cheese, well Calcium and Protein are very important while pregnant and it just so happens that cheese has plenty of both. (Although, some do say it is good to avoid soft cheeses while pregnant due to the possiblity of a higher content of bacteria).

Each person may have their own opinion to what is and what is not heatly, but you sure could have been a little less rude in expressing your opinion.

Having spent some time in Finland recently while my husband was working in Helsinki I do find your comment a bit off "x-ray". I have never seen so much cheese on display in one grocry store! Hundreds of varieties - at least 10 times as much as I have seen in any store in the states or the UK. From your comment above I must conclude that Finland promotes very unhealthy eating!

I am sorry, I didn't mean to be rude at all!!! I was just full of wonder since I read about 20posts and saw the unhealthiness of them and read the comments.. So if you compare to the basic lunches the US citizens normally have then maybe that lunch above is "more healthy". I don't think a person can really have an "opinion" about food being healthy or unhealthy, the facts count.

Renda Fury, maybe you should visit The Netherlands or Belgium and see we don't have that much cheese. But anyway, I don't know about the other Finnish people. I have eaten healthy my whole life, became vegetarian at the age of 13 and vegan at 17 (I am 25 now).

Esmeray, You may not feel that her meal is healthy enough, filling enough or appropriate by your standards of eating..That is your choice.. My question to you is.. When was the last time you were pregnant? She is in the 3rd Trimester of pregnancy.. chances are she is eating 5-6 times a day.. no 2-3. Pregnant woman do not have the physical ability to sit and stuff down a huge helping of food. Add in Food allergy issues and diet restrictions due to pregnancy complications it is not about what you eat PER MEAL.. but what you consume PER DAY calorie wise.. and every meal is its own juggling act when you are watching sugars/carbs and blood sugar. As a woman who has dealt with a high risk pregnancy.. trust that she is dealing with High Risk Specialists, multiple Dr visits and possible dietitians to manage and control her weight, sugar, and baby growth...

So I thought this was a very healthy lunch... well done. Good fats and proteins in the cheese (in moderation, of course, which you stuck to!) and avocado is so nutritious and good for you and the baby! I'm jealous. And blueberries too! Way to go, mommy!

Wow - I have to say I am really surprised at how judgemental and aggressive some of these posts have become. People, this is not your personal forum to criticize! This is a fun place where people can share what they are currently eating and, during the school year, checkout what Veg's school is offering. Most importantly, this is to draw attention to the plight of the hungry kids in the world who are receiving help through this blog and Mary's meals. Simmer the heck down!!!

AFAIK this blog was started by VEG to show of what - low - quality her school dinners were. Raising money for a good cause is a great second reason.

Nonetheless, this blog started as a point of critic of the school food system.Anybody showing their meals here should be ready to receive some critical opinions about it, too. Alas, this critic should be given in a moderate and friendly way. And none of us - including me ^^ - should forget that even scientists still differ in their opinions what a "healthy meal" is.

Back to Laura's lunch: Considering the circumstances, I'd rate this meal an 8 or 9. Nothing really too bad about it. Portion size is okay, if there's a bigger breakfast/dinner or several other small meals over the day. I've seen a lot worse stuff here, especially from those school meals VEG has to endure ^^

So you mean comments should all be positive and nice, you can't ask and wonder about things? What's with the censorship? I don't think my comment was rude at all. I've gotten couple of really rude comments on my blog and wouldn't want the blogger to feel the way I did when I got those.

Xray, do you really think telling a pregnant woman that her lunch is bad for her baby is appropriate, that's not what this is about, it's just about offering advice and maybe helping people to make better choices if they want to. There's no need to be aggressive to anyone.

I am also gluten intolerant (well I try to be 90% of the time) and I have never thought to put anything other than pb & j on rice cakes, now that I finally got a job and need to pack lunch you best believe I am going to try your method, it looks great.

This looks like a fabulous meal or large snack to me. And especially healthy and good if you have diabetes. My whole family has diabetes Type 2, and my husband has Type 1 (I'm the only one who doesn't have it, oddly). It's such a balancing act. Even though this meal might seem high in fat to a degree...that fat/protein combo actually helps to maintain an even blood sugar level...especially when carbs have to be so closely monitored. Also, avocados are super rich in vitamins...which I imagine are super important during pregnancy.

I don't see what's so wrong with a couple of slices of cheese, it's not like she's eating a whole great wedge of it or anything. And I don't know about it not being healthy for the baby, surely a good mix of proteins is good when you're pregnant, just don't have too much that's all.